Opening Hooks

Your opening words have to reach out and grab the reader fast or you'll lose them for sure. Sometimes a reader will stick with you for pages, maybe even chapters. But you can't count on it.

How do you choose a book in a bookstore? Read the back cover? Maybe scan the cover flap? Flip through the pages, checking the "white" to see if it contains mostly long, narrative writing or fast-paced dialogue? Read the opening paragraph?

Imagine it's the beginning of summer (a bit difficult today since the wind is howling and my upper deck is still iced over even though it’s mid-afternoon). Someone runs into the bookstore to grab a novel to read out on the beach or on a cruise. They hurry down the aisle, scanning book after book, reading the opening pages to see if it sounds interesting. Would your words reach out from the shelves and grab them?

Okay, let's back up a step. An agent (or editor), bone-tired and ready to call it quits after a long, depressing week, picks up a stack of manuscripts to take home for the weekend read. He sticks yours in among the 30 others. Will he open it, read the first page, the second, and not be able to put it down? Or will he read the first page, sigh, and fall asleep?

There are always exceptions, but readers (and agents and editors are readers, too) don't want to read pages or even paragraphs describing the weather or the bell tower (or whatever), or what a character is wearing. If you put that in the opening sentences, it damn-well better be exceptional writing and intricate to the plot. The background story on the protagonist may be necessary to understand his arc, it may be essential to explain his actions, but is it essential to put it upfront? Is it worth losing readers? Could it be sprinkled in later?

Remember to start each scene--and your story as a whole--as close to the end as possible. A lot of times that means cutting the first chapter or maybe a whole chunk of pages. We write the first draft, then go back and realize the novel begins slowly because we've started the story way too early. We've given too much background or delayed the action. That means we haven't given the reader any reason to keep reading.

And we really, really, want them to keep reading.

Business Cards

Always have business cards with you, especially at a conference, workshop, or convention. You'll be giving them out to agents, editors, other authors, fans, attendees, conference organizers, speakers, and more.

Most people give out standard cards. Some make fancier ones, like tent cards that when folded are the same size as a regular card (or even larger). Typically, the tent cards have the title, author's name, and a graphic on the front, a blurb about the book on the inside, and contact information on the back.

You can have business cards or tent cards made up at a copy shop. They're not terribly expensive, but you usually have to print a ton of them. If you don't want 500 or 1000 of the same card, you can make your own. If you have a computer and printer, they're easy to do.

I do have a couple of standard cards that I keep in my purse or pocket. One is for work--it lists my name, address, email, and business info (Director of Women's Marketing, Legends in Our Own Minds, LLC). If I'm speaking at a conference or event, I might take cards that on the back have information about my newsletter, Doing It Write!, and how to subscribe.

For your “writing” card, the one that gives out contact information, you could consider printing the back side with the title and logline for the manuscript you’re pitching at the time. Since this card is the one most likely to change, it’s the one you might want to do on your own in smaller numbers instead of two hundred or a thousand at a professional print shop.

When you go to a conference, keep the cards handy. Don't bury them in your purse or book bag. Have them ready to whip out and give away. And take cards from others. After you leave that person, make a note on the back to remind you who that contact was or why you have the card. You'll be surprised by how quickly you forget when you go back through 20 cards you collected during the conference.

Your business card is a tool. You can use it to network, to market yourself, to advertise your most current book and the ordering information, to make contacts. It can be one-sided, folded, two-sided, fancy, plain, with graphics or text only, black and white, colors, white-background or a texture. Whatever fits you and whatever you're promoting.

To misquote Nike: Just Use It.

Workshops, Conferences and Conventions

I've always found conferences to be inspiring and rejuvenating. But, I think you need to know your goals before deciding to attend a convention.

People ask me which conference they should attend. The answer is: It depends.

Let's look first at the differences I see between a workshop, a conference, and a convention.

To me, a workshop is a hands-on, intense learning experience. I would go there with paper and pen and expect to be taught something and receive lots of handouts. The workshop might be taught by one person (if only a couple of hours long) or several people (if days long). My goal in attending would be to learn something, with a secondary purpose of networking. Therefore, when choosing a workshop, I would look at what the topic is and who is leading the class.

I see a conference as being longer than a workshop, first of all. Secondly, while it may have an overall theme, such as "craft of writing" or "agents" or "writing the romance" or "nonfiction," I expect it to have multiple tracks of lectures or mini-workshops on subjects related to the overall theme. And thirdly, it will have more people in attendance. Once again, I sign up for the conference because it deals with a subject I'm interested in, but, just as important, are the speakers and attendees. In choosing, I would consider what stage in my career I'm at: Do I want help in the basics of writing? Am I at the point where I need an agent? Do I want to learn about a particular genre? Am I searching for directors, producers, or other screenwriters? But the theme of the conference isn't always the deciding factor. I may feel I've moved beyond the basics of writing, but a certain conference with that as its theme has several speakers or attendees with whom I really want to network.

And, finally, conventions, to me, are huge deals. Lots of people, lots of talks and panels. These are networking heaven. Yes, you can go to hear writers or agents talk on subjects you're dying to learn about, but your primary goal in attending a convention is to meet people, exchange business cards, make contacts and friends, tell people about your book or manuscript, and have fun. (I'm talking the kind of fun where you meet favorite authors or laugh at dinner with other writers and their agents -- not the kind of fun where next year you see Writers Gone Wild videos of yourself dancing naked on the beach.)

So, what conference, workshop or convention you should attend depends on what you are looking for and want to get out of the experience.

helenginger.com Is Up Again -- Yea!

Well, after weeks of haggling with getting my site redirected to a new host, my redesigned website is finally up! I can’t believe how long it took, but am glad it’s done.

I cut the site from around 50 pages to seven, so it’s much more manageable and, hopefully, more appealing to the eye. Probably because I have lived with the old site for so many years, I was definitely ready for a change.

Let me know what you think. Just click to www.helenginger.com.

WWF for Writers

Are writers like wrestlers, battling it out for a spot on the bestseller list? Should WWF stand for World Writers Federation?

Of course, there's competition. The more sales you have, the more money you eventually get. The more sales you have, the greater your chances of getting a contract for the second, third, fourteenth book. And so on.

But that certainly doesn't mean that writers should (or do) duke it out (literally or figuratively). Some of the most generous people I know are writers. Years ago, when I went to the world mystery convention, Bouchercon, in St. Paul, Jan Grape (great author and the woman who knows everyone in the mystery field) "mentored" me by introducing me to people and taking me to events I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

Hone your craft, write your best, keep practicing. The only person you should be in competition with is yourself. If you learn of a contest or know of an agent looking for new clients or whatever, does it increase your chances if you keep it to yourself? Not really. Either your work is good enough to win the contest or it's not. Either the agent will love your manuscript and offer representation, or he won't.

Remember, what goes around, comes around.

Decorating Characters

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I did. Family dynamics totally change when your kids grow up and become adults. Instead of retreating to their rooms to play video games or disappearing to avoid having to talk to parents, they sit down and talk. Wow.

Since I know my husband and I will be gone for a week in early December, I talked him into starting the Christmas decorations early this year. Of course, what we consider early may not be so for others. Somehow we don’t usually get started until December hits, then it’s a crushing rush to get the tree up, decorate, buy presents, send cards, and plan the dinner. This year, we put the tree up before Thanksgiving.

Just up. Not decorated. We did the decorating the day after turkey dinner. And it took most of the day. We have a ton of ornaments. I’m not kidding. The naked tree is about twelve feet tall and every inch sports an ornament.

While the decorating takes hours, I really enjoy doing it. First of all, I dig out the Christmas CDs and play them while we work – yes, even though it’s only November 24th. Mostly the joy comes from seeing the ornaments. Each one is a glimpse into our family, our lives, our past, our travels.

There are about two hundred ornaments from my “ceramic” days. That doesn’t count the most precious ones – those the kids made in their early years. Those I hold aside, along with the hand-made ones from preschool and boy scouts, and hang them front and center, not hidden back in the depth of the needles.

Others come from friends and family. I have a sister who lives in up north. Every year I send her the official Texas state ornament. She’s started sending me ones from her part of the country. I now can recognize the shape of Minnesota. For a while, she was into making salt dough ornaments. Each year those get packed carefully in bubble wrap and so far we’ve only lost one or two.

Hanging ornaments takes me to places around the world since I try to get an ornament from wherever we travel. Lots of resin skiers and snowboarders from Colorado; a marshmallow ice cube fisherman from Montana; Donald, Goofy and Minnie from Disney World. Ornaments from London, California, Morocco, Spain, Paris, Wyoming, North Carolina, Mount Vernon, Mexico, Florida.

Hundreds of ornaments. Each one a glimpse into the Ginger family, into our lives. At this time of year, it all gets displayed for anyone to see.

When you write a character, you put their life on display. But you have to pick and choose. You can’t hang everything out there and expect the reader to make sense of it all. Or to even enjoy seeing it all. You, the author, have to decide what to put on display. What to tell the reader. You choose what to hide among the branches and what to position up front. You decide what to keep to yourself, to save for a future book, if it’s a series. You choose what the reader needs to know and what they don’t.

It’s a little like a Christmas tree since you’re putting the character’s life on display for the reader’s enjoyment. But it’s a small, selective tree. There aren’t any ornaments whose origins are a mystery, where you haven’t a clue where they came from. When you hang an ornament on a character, you know its meaning, its purpose, its significance. The reader may not understand the first time they see it, but they will eventually.

How will you decorate your characters? When the book is done will you step back and admire the beauty? Will the reader recognize and understand each ornament hanging on the character?

Siteless

Currently, for the first time in years, I’m siteless.

Because of spotty support and overwhelming spam (with no spam filters), I’ve been trying to move my site to a new host. I started on November 6th trying to get the site re-pointed to a new host. Emailing, calling, checking constantly. Finally, today, something happened. My old site disappeared.

Problem is, the new site did not appear. There’s now a white screen telling visitors no site is available.

I’ve put an email into the new host asking about the new site. I’m hoping she can check her end and see if I’ve made a mistake somewhere or if she perhaps has to trigger something at her end.

So, I can’t say for sure when the new site will be up, especially since tomorrow is a holiday. When it goes up, I’ll announce it here and in the newsletter. It’ll be a big change. Different look, different colors, more pictures and way fewer pages. I’ve cut it from about fifty pages to seven.

After a little over two weeks of struggling with the move, I’m excited things are happening. I wish it had been a smooth transition, of course, but at least things look promising.

Hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and perhaps by the time you’re through eating and have slept off the turkey, I won’t be siteless and you can have a look at the new helenginger.com. Tell me what you think!

Money Doesn't Trump All

Guess you’ve all heard Robert Murdoch has cancelled the book in which, supposedly, O.J. Simpson was to give a fictional account of how he would have murdered his ex-wife, if he had done it. Not only did the publisher cancel the book (and, according to some news reports, shredded copies), News Corp, which owns both ReganBooks and the Fox network, cancelled the television special with O.J. Simpson.

They’ve come to their senses. But they didn’t come to it on their own. The American public caused this turn of events. The backlash against the book and TV interview was enough to cause bookstores who had ordered the book, sight-unseen for most, to decide not to sell the book or to sell it but donate profits. The uproar continued and even Fox stations began to cancel out on carrying the interview.

Then finally, Murdoch cancelled the book and News Corp cancelled the TV special. I don’t know, maybe they had an epiphany and realized what they should have from the beginning – this was a bad, bad idea. More likely, in my opinion, they saw how the public had turned against them and realized this had become a publicity nightmare. Although, I’m sure in the beginning, they thought this would be a huge profit-producing book. They probably now realize that profits from the book would be seriously tainted. No profit, even a loss, would be better for them in the long run.

We, the public, made a difference. Good, common sense and decency ruled. And money did not, for once, trump all.

Rejections

Nobody likes rejections, but we all get them. If you're a writer, you get them by the truckload. You get them from your critique group. Readers and judges of contests give you low scores or write mean-spirited or positive, but disheartening comments. When you start querying out your manuscript, you get rejected by agents. If you finally get an agent, then you get the pleasure of being rejected by editors. Your book gets published, and then it seems like the critics are out for blood. Even with good reviews, readers reject you, sometimes on world-wide bulletin boards or chat services, sometimes when you're sitting at a table in a store and hardly anyone even makes eye contact, let alone comes over. Book stores reject you--they don't want you for a signing, or you show up for a signing and they forgot to order copies of your book. And on and on. Constant, never-ending rejection.

WHY DO WE DO THIS TO OURSELVES???

Excuse me. Did I say that aloud? What I meant to say was: Rejection is good for building character.

Ha! Boogers. If that's the case, then I've got more characters than Jim Carrey.

But, I will say this, and it's something you already know: If you let rejection get to you, if you give up because it hurts too much, if you lose faith in yourself and in your talent, then you won't succeed.

You can learn from rejection.

1) Figure out what you did wrong, and correct it.

2) Remember, the rejection is not of you personally.

3) Sometimes, the problem is not with you or your writing, it's with the person doing the rejecting.

4) Every critique, every comment, whether it's from a reader, an agent, an editor, a contest judge, or a critic, is subjective.

5) If you labor over every rejection or negative comment, you'll make yourself crazy. Let it go and move on.

Pick yourself up off the floor, file away the rejection, and write some more. Okay, I'll let you have some private time to cry, or eat a half-gallon of ice cream, or take a nap, or call a friend. But then you have to sit your behind back in your chair and write.

Remember there is a recipe for getting published:
Half is talent.
Half is luck.
Half is meeting the right people, networking.
Half is rewriting and rewriting and rewriting.
Half is perseverance.

Yes, I know. That's too many halves. But you've got all that character built up from being rejected. You've got more than enough "halves" to go around.

Why Would He Do It?

I’ve had some people ask me about the upcoming O.J. Simpson book. Problem is, I’m not sure what to say. I haven’t read the book, first off. Like everyone else, I’m only hearing what she said or he said and what they said about what she said. From what I’ve heard (second, third and fourth –hand), O. J. spins a fictional tale of how he would have killed his wife Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman IF he had committed the murders.

So the whole book is about this fictional tale of how he would have planned it, carried it out and covered it up? The entire book? I don’t think I could write a 300-page murder, let alone read one. Gotta be something else in there.

Another question is why in the Hel would he write such a book? Yes, to make money, but he could have written something else. It didn’t have to be this.

From his point of view, he might have written it to say, I’m innocent. It couldn’t have been me because I would never have done it the way it was done. This is how I would have pulled it off. From my point of view that would be just plain stupid. He’s already been found not guilty. A jury believed he wasn’t capable of planning and carrying out a murder. Well, here he shows them he’s perfectly capable of planning a murder. So capable, he wants to show off by putting the plan in writing.

Perhaps he thought if he could convince people he didn’t do it or he is too smart to have done it, then he would regain some of the status he lost, people would like him again, he would once again be in the favor of the public. No, no. I say again, no. It’s been so many years. People who believed him innocent still continue to believe. Those who believed him guilty, still believe. By dredging the horror up again, he only shines the spotlight on himself and his children and not in a favorable way.

Maybe he thought this was a way to stick it to the families of the dead who took him to court and won a multi-million dollar civil case against him. I can get a book published. Millions of people still love me and will buy the book. I’ll make millions of dollars and I’ve set up the pay-off in such a way, you’ll never see a penny of it. He may be partially right. Tons of people may buy the book. He may make lots of money. But surely, someone will go after the money since the families have not received anything of the settlement he was supposed to pay.

And let’s not even get me started on the editor who bought this book, probably arranged the ghost writer(s), and read through most likely multiple versions of it. What in the Hel was she thinking? And I’m not buying that she considered this his confession so she wanted to get it out there for the world to read. Hogwash.

Let’s help them out. Let’s pile into our white SUVs and join a looooonnngg sllooooooow caravan down the highway to NOT buy O.J.’s book.

Well. For someone who didn’t know what to say, I’ve kinda run off my mouth, haven’t I? Maybe I’ll write a book on how, if I hadn’t acted so rashly at the computer and instead had taken a few years to think this through, I would have written the blog in a different way.

Writers Anonymous

Hello, my name is Helen and I’m a writeaholic.

Writers spend a lot of time on writing. They write, they research for what they’re writing, they think and dream about plot and scenes, they jot notes at a stop light or while waiting in the check-out line, they talk to other writers, they read books, newsletters or blogs on writing, they go to meetings, workshops, conferences, and talks on writing, they do book signings and other book promotions, they act out dialogue, they tape record scenes or the entire manuscript and critique it, they go to critique groups, they edit and edit and edit. And if all that isn’t enough, some of us think about writing in general when we’re not thinking about a specific book or manuscript.

This morning I was hanging upside down in a big chest freezer and it made me think about writing.

No, I wasn’t acting out a murder scene. I was defrosting the freezer. Now, growing up I was tall; I’m not so tall now. I haven’t shrunk, but the next generation has gotten taller, so 5 foot 9 and a half inches doesn’t seem as tall as it did when I was in high school. But, even so, the freezer is quite deep and to get the melted ice off the bottom and sides, I had to bend over the side and just about hang upside down, with only my toes balancing me on the floor.

And this made me think about writing.

How many times do we have a character do something without checking to see if that character could physically do it? Take defrosting a chest freezer as an example – not that you’re likely to have a character doing that, but you might. Hmm, I’m seeing a female character trying to defrost the freezer when the killer creeps up behind and shoves her in and closes and locks it. Then…oh wait, sorry, I got off subject. We were talking about defrosting. If I’m five foot nine and a half inches tall and having such a struggle getting the job done, how would you have a character who’s five foot two do it? On the reverse side, there are plenty of things a short person can do that would be difficult or impossible for a tall person.

It’s good to think about such things before a reader catches it and writes you a note or, worse, writes you off as an author to read.

Platforms

What is a “platform” when it pertains to a book? This can be confusing to some people – with good reason. The confusion is because what used to be meant by platform has morphed into something more.

In the past, when someone said you needed a platform for your book, they first off meant your nonfiction book. Only nonfiction books had platforms. What it basically meant was that you, the author, were an expert on some subject others want to learn about.

Expert plus important topic equals platform.

Over the last few years, platform has come to mean more than that. It no longer is enough to be an expert on some subject people want to read about. You now have to have a built-in audience or a way to get publicity.

Expert plus important topic plus ready audience equals platform.

The sad thing is this last part of the equation has taken on great significance, so much so that it can be more important than the other two parts. That’s why you see so many celebrities writing books (or having them ghost written). It sometimes doesn’t matter they know no more on the subject than you or I; it doesn’t matter the subject is superficial. They have easy access to TV shows, radio, magazine and newspaper exposure, and hundreds of thousands of people who will buy the book based solely on their name, regardless of subject or even need.

You can have a platform without being a Hollywood celebrity, though. But you still need that third part of the equation. Not the promise that if published you’re willing to make speeches, conduct workshops, appear on TV and radio, and do book tours. A platform needs to be in place prior to getting published, even prior to querying. Not what you would do in the future, but what access to publicity and book sales you already have in place. You are already a recognized expert; you’re already doing speeches and workshops; you have a blog visited by thousands every day; you have a following based on prior sales, your work, your newsletter, your mailing list; you have name recognition – the wider the better.

Another way the meaning of the term platform has morphed is that it now applies to fiction, as well as nonfiction. Agents and editors now look to see if fiction writers have a platform. They want good writing, a genre that will sell, and a new and interesting twist to the book – all the things they’ve always wanted. But now they also expect the author to have that third part of the equation – a ready-made audience. If you’re not a national celebrity then a local celebrity will do. If you’re not a celebrity, then you need to have already set up ways you can get yourself out there to sell your book. You’re already doing speeches and workshops, or you have an active, highly visited blog, or you are involved in so many organizations, groups, and activities that you can count on big sales. OR – you are so cute, young, and personable that the camera will love you and you can be made into a celebrity. OR – your book has a unique twist (that is anchored in you) that will make it easy to get publicity. For example, a heart-wrenching story of a Katrina victim. What you can contribute to publicizing the book has taken on almost equal status with the subject of the book and your ability to write.

Good writing plus unique, interesting topic or plot plus ready audience equals platform.

Agents will tell you they only care about the writing. They say they look at the pages and whether it hooks them. But publishers – and agents – look at the bottom line – will this book sell.

So when you think of platform, imagine an actual platform in a room. You, the author/expert, are standing on that platform. You’re holding your book, ready to talk on this intriguing subject/ idea/plot. That used to be the platform. Nowadays, you also have to imagine the audience you bring along with you. They’re up there on that platform with you. The bigger your audience, the bigger your platform. The bigger your platform, the more happy an agent or editor is going to be to see you, read you, sign you, buy you.

What are you doing to build your platform?

Protagonists

The main character in your novel, short story, or screenplay is your protagonist, the hero. The protagonist is the primary focus of the story. He or she is the one we identify with, empathize with, care about. The protagonist must be sufficiently intriguing to keep our interest throughout the book or movie. That doesn't mean protagonists are ideal or perfect. Most of the great protagonists have some character flaw. That's what makes them "human."

There are exceptions, of course. Sherlock Holmes is too perfect. Does he ever make mistakes? Not often. But then, as readers, we don't have to live in his head throughout the book. We see him through another's eyes. And James Bond is not real, nor do we expect him to be. He's a fantasy--sort of like Cruise in Mission Impossible. Does anyone really believe it's possible to leap from your speeding cycle and ski along beside it down the road while dodging bullets?

And there are a few literary heroes who are rather negative. Take Scarlett in Gone With The Wind. She's not terribly likeable, but she is fascinating. She may not command our sympathy, but she does demand our attention.

In order for your protagonist to not be a stereotype, he or she must be dimensional. He has different character traits--he loves and he hates; he trusts and has suspicions. She has different roles--she is the mother of a two-year old and the CEO of a company. Protagonists have emotions and values and attitudes.

Some of these paradoxes within the protagonist may be negative (they're only human, after all), but overall the hero needs to be positive. The protagonist needs admirable qualities so the reader will want to identify with him or her. We want to root for them to win. We want their arc to be one of positive change, of reward and accomplishment. For the time it takes to read the book or watch the movie, the reader is the hero. And we, naturally, want to win, to be liked, to grow, to be successful.

The protagonist has to move the story forward. Very rarely are protagonists inactive or always acted upon. In most cases, they drive the plot. They make the decisions, take the risks, and accept the responsibilities. They give up something of importance, but are rewarded in the end. They may not always want to make sacrifices or make changes, but if they are to become heroes, if they are to have an emotional arc within the story, they must do the inevitable.

Usually, the protagonist knows what he wants. But what he wants is not always what he gets - or even what he will ultimately come to want. The detective wants to solve the murder of his brother. He wants to find out who killed him and why. At least that's what he thinks he wants--it is his conscious desire. But he eventually realizes that what he really wants is to accept his brother's death and to forgive himself for being late to their appointment. That is his unconscious desire. And that unconscious desire must be met by the end of the book or movie, even if the original conscious need is never answered.

A woman wants to find a husband who will take care of her. But after many trials and ordeals, she grows and matures and comes into her "own." She becomes independent and learns she can take care of herself. She may marry, but that is not her goal anymore.

Protagonists don't have to be superhuman. Generally, readers like their heroes to be "flawed" because it makes them more like us. The protagonist has to learn in order to grow. We can learn along with him. The protagonist has to adapt, and we change with her. We see things in a new light or from a new angle. Heroes jump the hurdles in life, like we do as well. We pray for them to leap high enough to make it over unscathed. If they don't make it, we silently urge them to get up and try again.

On the other hand, we don't want them to be stupid. If they go into the dark basement after hearing a noise, we scream at them to turn on the light and take a weapon. We may even throw down the book in disgust. If they go into the alley where even shadows are frightened to go, we yell, "Don't you hear the scary music, you idiot?" True, we like to be scared and we want to fear for our protagonist. But when we read a book or watch a movie, we ARE the protagonist. And we don't want to be stupid or do idiotic things.

We don't want an invincible hero, but we don't want her to be boring, either. Perhaps we want them to be just slightly above the ordinary, with something inside them that says they could be extraordinary. Not an Einstein, but clever and intuitive enough to overcome the antagonist or the wall they're up against. Not stupidly brave, but daring, with an adventurous spirit, and willing to act bravely even if they're trembling inside. We want them to grow and learn. We want them to be winners.

We want them to be us.

Marketing Your Book

Richard Pachter wrote an interesting article for The Miami Herald yesterday. It was an article about how authors are having to market their books. What made it interesting is he didn’t focus on the self-published or small press authors. We all know how hard they have to work to promote their titles. Pachter focused on writers from big houses.

And, yes, they too have to do marketing and devise promotional campaigns. Being with a large publishing house doesn’t mean you get a free ride. Maybe an easier ride with some help on the cost of the ticket, but it’s still a lot of work. And being with a major publisher doesn’t guarantee any help at all.

Joseph Finder worked with his publisher, St. Martin’s Press, to include in his book an audio CD to promote his next book. Finder also paid someone to design and run his website. I thought one innovative thing he did was put up “special websites in countries where his books sell especially well, such as the Netherlands.”

Author Edwin Black “wrote and helped produce a video trailer for his book that was completed with the assistance of volunteers, packaged on DVD and distributed online through YouTube.”

When author and marketing expert Seth Godin is about to publish a book, he puts out a rash of online promotions, special offers, podcasts and blog postings on different websites. He often uses a marketing campaign to send out his books. “A colorful cereal box, boldly announcing, Free Prize Inside, contained not a decoder ring or tiny plastic soldier, but a copy of Godin's book of the same name.”

What this article and our common sense tell us is you can’t sit back and expect your publisher to do the work for you – whether that publisher is Scribner or yourself. Those days are long gone.

Naming Characters

Sometimes writers spend more time stressing over what to call a character than they did naming their own child. Authors want their character to have a name that will draw the reader as well as identify the character. It has to sound right. Maybe it implies social status, ethnicity, age, some aspect of the character's personality, or maybe his or her occupation.

We all would like to come up with character names that stick in our heads or just seem perfect for the "person": Hawkeye Pierce, Magnum, Rockford, Mike Hammer, Daisy Mae, Scarlett, Hannibal Lecter, Mrs. Maxim de Winter, Atticus Finch, and on and on.

Authors have multiple copies of Baby Naming books. Some have phone books from different cities. Others keep lists of names of friends or names they read or overhear. Others buy books designed to help writers or to explain the origins of names. Two that I have on my shelf are: _All Those Wonderful Names_ by J.N. Hook and _The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook_ by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I also have a big baby naming book.

Some authors choose the protagonist and antagonist names before they ever begin writing, and that name becomes so ingrained with the character that it would be unthinkable to change it. Personally, I have to have something to call my characters before I begin, but I'm not married to the names. I have been known to change them, multiple times. I keep looking for that "perfect" name; that one so right this person could not have been called anything else. Although my characters' names sometimes change during the course of writing the manuscript or during one of the re-writes, I do spend a lot of time upfront trying to find the best name for each character.

A point to remember is to avoid names within the same novel that sound similar (unless you have some underlying reason for doing this). It's even best to make sure two names don't begin with the same letter (lessens the chance the reader will get the two characters confused) or sound (such as Clarissa and Karla). Some names sound "old;" some are new and modern. You can look up statistics for what would have been your character's birth year and find out what were the most popular names given to children in different countries. Also, you can find out what various names mean and decide if that particular trait fits your character--or you can go in the opposite direction and choose, say, for a tall, strapping football hero a name that means "timid and meek."

Keep in mind that all these resource books are nice to have handy, but you don't have to pay to find names. Go to the library, pay attention to movie credits, search the phone book, look in your children's school directory or the church roster, use the Internet, read the lists of political candidates, scan the obituaries in the paper.

Usually, it’s not easy to decide on character names. I know. If you just can't decide, try throwing out possible names to your critique group. Sometimes, it helps to hear how other people "see" your characters.

NaNoWriMo

Do you NaNoWriMo? I never have. But a lot of people do. In 1999, 21 people did. In 2005, the number was up to 59,000. By the end of this month, it’s estimated that number will have risen to 93,000, over half of whom are from the United States. What is NaNoWriMo? It’s the nickname for National Novel Writing Month. Those who register and participate call themselves WriMos. And what are they signing up to do? Write 50,000 words in 30 days. In other words, finish a 175 page book, be it a gem or rubbish, doesn’t matter.

You could still register. It might be difficult to finish by November 30, though. Or you could do your own challenge in December or any month of the year. Sort of a training exercise to get ready to enter next year’s NaNoWriMo. Start working on your discipline to make yourself write about 2,000 words per day, no excuses. You might also work on your karaoke since some cities are planning Thank God It’s Over parties.

An interesting article on the phenomenon of NaNoWriMo can be found in the Washington Post online.

You can also go to the National Writing Month site to see a second-by-second countdown of the time remaining on the 2006 NaNoWriMo. You can also find out what BUYND is and how you can hook up to WrimoRadio.

You better watch out. This seems to be sweeping the nation, with WriMos multiplying each year. Dan Zak with the Washington Post estimates if the “growth rate is constant and participation is cumulative, then every American will be writing a novel in November 2027. We'll be a country made entirely of boozing, tortured authors.”

Aren’t we already?

Get What You Want

Sometimes when you’re not involved in the planning for an event or class, it’s puzzling why the organizers did what they did. Why didn’t they choose a different subject? Why didn’t they do a panel discussion instead of a one person talk?

I know when I was the Executive Director of the Writers’ League, people would sometimes call and ask us to do a class on some specific topic. Since I was the one in charge of setting up all the classes and workshops and a lot of the retreats, I would try to arrange it. There were things to consider, like how long has it been since we did that subject? Did the class do well? Can I find an instructor? Should it be a half-day, full day, or weekend class? A lot of times, though, by the time someone called, the classes had already been set up months or even a year in advance. In that case, the suggestion might get relegated to the next year’s plan.

Right now I’m involved with the planning for Texas Mystery Month (this used to be called Texas Mystery Week, but since events and presentations go on all month, we decided to change the name). We had our second meeting today. The main topic of discussion was what to do during that month, May.

Some things we already know. As we did last year, we’ll have the Future Authors Extravaganza, where unpublished authors will read from their work in progress. Author Karen MacInermey will teach a four day class on How To Write A Mystery. We’ll also have a Day of Mystery Writing at a local Barnes & Noble. The big culmination will be the Barbara Burnett Smith Aspiring Writers Event, which includes both a special speaker, a Mystery in Four Parts (great fun) and published authors mentoring aspiring authors, as well as a tribute to the late Barbara Burnett Smith, a wonderful mystery author and someone who believed in helping other writers.

But what things should we set up the rest of the month? We agreed we should focus on mini-workshops with some panel discussions. We came up with a beginning list of possible subjects, from writer’s block to dialogue, setting, and characterization, from putting humor or romance in a mystery to writing other things besides the novel, like plays or short stories. Now we have to find instructors. Not just any instructor – someone who’ll teach for free.

What this tells you is that planning for workshops or classes starts months or even a year in advance. If you have something you want to see or hear or even teach, get in on the planning. And do it early. Your input is wanted. And I’m not just talking about Texas Mystery Month. Any organization that does education welcomes suggestions.

For Texas Mystery Month the focus right now seems to be all about what will we do, who will teach, what venues will host these workshops, who will organize, who will do the work – the real mechanics of putting on any event or a month of events. But the real focus is on those the event is meant to benefit. That is, the authors who teach – we hope they get exposure to new readers and maybe some book sales – and the people attending, most likely pre-published authors – they’re looking for valuable information and networking (even mentoring) with published authors.

But the only way to really get what you want is to get involved either by suggesting ideas or joining the committee, organization, or group.

Changing Moments

I forgot my sister’s birthday. Totally. I remember thinking last month that her birthday was coming up soon. Then last night, while walking the dog, I stopped dead in my tracks and thought, oh my God, Cathy’s birthday was five days ago. I hadn’t sent a card. No email. No present. Not even a call. Nothing. Nada. I was shocked I’d let it slip.

Why, you wonder, am I mentioning this in my blog instead of whipping myself like the albino in DaVinci Code? Because this kind of experience is relevant to the protagonist in your book.

Every main character at some point in the book has a defining moment. The moment when things change. He makes the decision to quit resisting and embark on the journey. She stands up and takes responsibility. He decides to get involved. She leaves on a quest. He must lower his defenses and accept help. She faces the truth.

The catalyst for change can be something huge. A friend dies. A robber comes into the bank. She is attacked. He sees the consequences of his actions. Terrorists attack. A father has a heart attack. The plane crashes. Her reality dissolves when she finds her spouse cheating.

On the other hand, the catalyst can seem small at first glance, but would be huge for the character. The breaking of a treasured vase. A hurtful comment by someone admired. A speeding ticket. A found letter. A picture in the paper.

A catalyst can also be something completely out of character. A forgotten birthday.

And so begins the hero’s journey.

Change is a Giant Steamroller

This is the way it was: if you were self-published or even small press, you had trouble (sometimes insurmountable trouble) getting your book in chain bookstores. That’s reality. You had to be creative. You had to do independent guerrilla marketing. You had to hand-sell at book fairs and other small outlets. You went to small stores, organizations, groups and asked to sell your books. If your book was about wine or had a wine-related theme, you went to wine and liquor stores, you turned to wine enthusiasts and wine magazines or organizations. You hustled and sold the book yourself, one or two or ten at a time.

You usually got a bigger piece of the profit when you did that, but it was a rough road and took over your life. But you had those smaller, customized, unique outlets to target. If the big bookstores and book chains wouldn’t take you, you had the other unpaved road to travel.

This is the way it’s changing: the big houses are muscling in on your territory. And if you couldn’t compete with them to get into the major book stores, how you gonna compete in the niche market?

This past weekend, Guardian Unlimited came out with an article about how the US publishing industry is competing in the custom outlets. If you’re a self-published or small press author, the article will give you a chill.

The major houses have the means, the pull, and the money. They not only are getting into the niche markets for their authors, “cheese shops, cattle markets, hardware stores, butchers and office supply chains,” they’re doing things like color coding book covers to complement stock in those places. They’re reprinting books to match shop décor. They’re creating books to suit new outlets. They’re getting their authors on QVC.

Take the publisher Penguin and author Todd Wilbur. Penguin published a one-off volume of Wilbur’s recipes to get him on QVC. “They billed it as a unique product that could only be bought there and then. In one day, with just five slots of airtime of six minutes each, they sold 100,000 copies of the volume.”

Now, I’m not saying the big publishing houses are demons out to kill off the small authors. They have bottom lines to worry about. They have authors they are committed to support and want to succeed. This isn’t a big conspiracy.

But this kind of a trend can’t be good for the independent authors. And it’s not like the self-pubbed and small press authors can depend on the Internet for sales. The big houses have already found that source, too.

Fewer books are being published. More authors are turning to small press or self-publishing. But if they can’t sell, what does this mean for the industry? Will the landscape totally change? Will authors find new ways and places to market their books? Will they thrive? Merely survive? Disappear?

Doesn’t matter whether you’re published with a big house, a small house or by yourself. You want to be a success. The question now is how do you do that?

Connections

Not long ago, I blogged about how writers, whenever possible, should do first-hand research on the setting of their books. By seeing it yourself, you not only get the atmosphere of the setting, you can get the layout of the land, the slang of the people, even the feel of the city. Austin and Dallas are not that far apart physically, but I can’t imagine Dallas having the motto: Keep Dallas Weird. The two cities have a very different “feel” to them.

Sometimes you can’t do the actual research yourself. Or what you need to know is not available on the Internet or it’s available but you’re not sure you can trust it. Sometimes you have to turn to friends.

Now here I’m going to tell you something you might find calculating or perhaps even distasteful -- write things down. You’re already keeping a contact list, right? Shoot, no one’s mind is so good you can remember everyone you’ve ever met, so you undoubtedly have a contact list somewhere. What you may not be doing is making notes in that list. Under the listing for your good bud Lawrence Boozer, you note that his daughter Vodka Boozer is a paramedic and his grandmother Tipsy Boozer used to be a dancer on Broadway. Right now you have no need to know the slang and life of a paramedic or what Broadway used to be like in 1940, but should you ever need that information, you’d have a “first-hand” source to ask.

If I need to know about life on a ranch, I’d turn to my uncle. But if I wanted to know about life on a huge ranch, I’d turn to a friend. He doesn’t have a ranch, but he has a good friend who does. I’ve never met my friend’s friend, but I know he exists because my friend talks about him. And I’ve noted that relationship in my contact list.

I have three sisters, but if I wanted to know about life in a big family, I’d turn to another friend. She has so many brothers and sisters, if I didn’t have their names in my contact list, I’d never remember them. I’m surprised she can.

If I wanted to know about electronic voting machines, how they can be manipulated, how they’re set up and what goes on long before and after voting day, I’d turn to another friend. Although he lives in another part of the country, he’s told stories that make me shiver.

Sometimes I’ve needed medical information. In that case, I turn to my cousin. She, a nurse, and her husband, a doctor, have been helpful. And they don’t seem to mind my crazy questions. Family ties are wonderful.

If I need to know about day-to-day life in Los Angeles, New York, Minnesota, El Paso, Sheridan, Phoenix, Mississippi, Alaska, and on and on, I have people I can turn to.

I have sources because I try to note things that may one day be of interest to me. Unless you are just obnoxious with your questions, this is not a distasteful thing to do. You probably already do it. Maybe not book questions but you turn to people you know with other questions – because you think they will know the answers. But if you don’t note the name and connection of the friend of a friend of a second-cousin who is a veterinarian specializing in hippo digestive systems, how will you know who to turn to when you write that romantic suspense book about the vet at the San Diego Zoo?

Help! I've Fallen Again

Okay, I’ve fallen into a trap. It’s a trap I’ve been in before. I’d gotten out of it, but now see myself slipping into its clutches again. It’s a trap I know others are in or have been in. They’ve told me so.

That trap is I’m reading too many books at once.

I’m not in as deep as I have been in years past. There was a time when I had books going all over the place – in two or three different rooms in the house, one in my purse, one in the car. I finally had to stop that because sometimes it would be so long before I re-picked-up a book, I’d forgotten the plot. Or I’d be actively reading so many at once, I’d get the plots mixed up. Some books never got finished because I’d lose interest in them from one reading to another.

I reformed to reading one book at a time. Ahh, much less stressful.

But I’m slipping again. I can see it, but it’s difficult to stop. I got interested in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. So I started reading those. Then, my husband started reading Bob Woodward’s book State of Denial. When he set it down, I picked it up. So now I’m reading that, but only when he’s off doing something else. About a week ago, a friend of mine, Sharon Kahn, signed her latest mystery, Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Choir, and gave it to another friend to pass on to me at the Texas Mystery Month meeting. I’ve missed Ruby the protagonist of Sharon’s books, so of course I had to start that. Not long ago, I read You: The Owner’s Manual by Drs. Roisen and Oz. Yesterday I started You: On a Diet by the same doctors.

Aaakk! I’ve done it again. I’m drowning in books. At least this time, all the books are very different. Unlike in the past when I would find myself reading six mysteries at the same time, now I’m reading a suspense, a political nonfiction, a mystery, and a medical nonfiction. Surely I won’t get those plots mixed up. It could be a dark trap if I begin to think Rumsfield is a rabbi’s wife who’s a lone warrior out to save the world with almonds, cinnamon, fiber and exercise.

Volunteering

This past Sunday I finished up work with the Texas Book Festival, except for follow-up meetings, turning in my notebook, etc., until next year begins for the committee chairs. Today I went to the first planning meeting for Texas Mystery Month next May. I’m already scheduled for a day of gift wrapping for the Bess Whitehead Scott Scholarship Fund in December.

Although I would have liked a little time between the Book Festival and Mystery Month work, I like volunteering and I recommend it to others, especially aspiring writers.

Granted, unless you volunteer for something like an agents conference and you ask for the job of driving agents to and from the airport or being an agent escort, you’re not likely to meet an agent who might represent you. But there are other benefits. If you work on writing-related events, your chances are good you’ll meet published authors. Generally speaking, authors are nice, generous people. You can learn things about the business and about writing by talking to them. You might get to meet other aspiring writers. This could lead to critique partners or possibly someone to join up with on a book tour after you’re both published. You might get to meet people who manage or set up events at bookstores. That kind of a contact could come in handy when you’re published. And what about the people in charge of the event, like the Book Festival or the writing organization putting on the conference? Getting to know them may set you up in the future to teach classes or appear at the event yourself.

A lot of these benefits of volunteering have you looking for and reaping the benefits far into the future, after you’re published. When I teach a workshop on book promotion, I tell writers to start thinking of ways to promote their books early, like when they begin writing. You can’t wait until after it’s published.

Then, of course, there’s always the good feeling you get from giving back to the writing community. Get involved. You’ll meet people and you’ll reap immediate and far reaching benefits.

Lattes and Books

The other day, an article came out in The Seattle News about Starbucks new literary salon program. Remember when Starbucks promoted the movie Akeelah and the Bee? Now they’re trying the same thing, only with authors.

As their first author, they chose Mitch Albom, best-selling author of Tuesdays With Morrie and the new book For One More Day. No, he’s not going to little Starbucks stores and reading to ten patrons slurping mocha lattes. We’re talking 600 employees at Starbucks’ corporate headquarters and fans at the Palace Ballroom in Belltown. We’re talking free lattes and a catered crostini bar. [I had to google that one.]

At first glance, you might think, wow, that’s great. He sells books, readers have a fun experience and get to learn about an author they may not have read before, Starbucks promotes reading and literacy. I want to be the next author they choose.

But there is controversy. Bookstores, especially independents who depend on “big” names to visit their stores and sell books aren’t just overjoyed at this idea. They lose business. And a lot of bookstores are already losing business to Internet sales.

Starbucks doesn’t plan to just stop at promoting select authors. They’re looking into publishing books. And you may have heard recently Starbucks is not content with a store on every other corner. They plan to double the number of stores they have now. I’d call them the Walmart of coffee, but have you paid for a latte lately? No little yellow smiley face chopping prices there.

But my annoyance at the price of a venti non-fat chai aside, is this a good thing for authors? And as a disclaimer, I should mention my son is a barista at a Starbucks. They may be taking over the world, but at least they offer even the part-time employees health insurance. Now, I’d like to see them take on a new unknown author. And saying “There's so much talent out there, and they can't find a publisher. It'd be a great service for emerging authors.” is just lip-service. Especially when Starbucks’ chairman follows that by saying they have someone at William Morris reading scripts and treatments, looking for emerging talent. William Morris has a history of not even opening query letters from writers who aren’t already celebrities or friends of celebrities or clients.

Is this a massive corporation partnering with an exclusive literary agency to promote themselves and celebrity authors? Or the grassroots of something beneficial to writers everywhere?

Damsels Kick Butt

Not long ago I mentioned I had started reading the suspense series by Lee Child. At that time, I’d read two and had decided to go back and start the series from the beginning. I read them out of order because one title had been recommended and I picked out another based on the cover blurb. I needed two books to take on a trip. But I enjoyed those two so much I decided to read all in the Jack Reacher series.

At this point, I’ve now read two others – the first two. I’m still enjoying the series and feel like I’m learning a lot. One thing that has really struck me is how much description and explanation there is in each book. I had thought that in order for a book to be suspenseful, you had to keep it moving. Fast. Clip, clip, clip. So, it’s been educational for me to discover that Child can spend so much time on details without losing my interest. I keep turning pages and covering up the last lines in a chapter so I’m not tempted to glance ahead.

It’s also interesting how Reacher (and Child) treats the women in the books. They tend to be strong women, either physically or mentally or both. They are actively involved in the story, but, of course, Reacher remains the protagonist. Reacher, so far, is always attracted to the female lead, but whether he will hook up with her varies from book to book. Without a doubt, though, you, the reader, sense the relationship will not be permanent. That’s not in the character’s personality. And in what I’ve read so far, Reacher is true to character. Speaking as a woman, it’s nice to see a male protagonist suspense/thriller book in which the female lead is not some weak ditzy damsel in distress.

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. I’m going to take a break, though, and read a nonfiction book, just so the Reacher plots don’t begin to blend together since I’m sort of blowing through them.

I have to stop today, though, at the end of chapter two in Bob Woodward’s State of Denial. I promised myself I’d do some work on my other job, Legends In Our Own Minds. Plus, I need to clean house today. Bleh. Talk about damsel in distress.